My Daughter had ear tubes put in when she was 10 months old. After 8 months, one of them turned (according to the ENT doc) and was not working. The other tube was working fine. My daughter had 1 ear infection and was treated with anitbiotics. She is now almost 2 (so tubes have been in for a little over a year) she has another ear infection in the same ear and when her Pediatrician checked she said that BOTH ear tubes are now lodged in her ear drum in ear wax. I have an appt with the ENT on 12/16. From what my ped said, its ok if the tubes are in there, they just are not working and the ENT may want to have them replaced. My question for you guys is when I go to the ENT on 12/16 will he remove the tubes on the spot? Last time we were there, he removed some build up around her ear with a special vaccum and my daughter was very scared. i am afraid of him removing the tubes the same way and it scaring the poo out of her. Second question is should I have the tubes replaced? She is on her second ear infection this year...that is NOTHING compared to the 9 she had the first 10 months of her life. I know the tubes work but I am wondering if now that she is older and her inner ears are bigger that she is getting enough drainage.
If I choose to get the tubes replaced, then doesnt it make more sense that the ENT doc would just remove and replace the tubes in the same surgury? Thanks
i have no personal experience but I worked with a young mom who's son had repeated ear infections - had the tubes done, nothing helped - tunil she was referred to a chiropractor - no kiddingd! This chriopractor was good with kids - had two of his own. Withing a week the infections topped - and the last I heard it had been a couple of years without ear infections! Definitely worth a try.
I had 7 sets of tubes growing up... starting at age 2 and the last set was when I was 14.
Each time I would go through a run of anti-biotics and ear drops before they finally would just go in and replace the tubes...
I have since had to have reconstructive surgery (tympanoplasty) on both ears due to the amount of scar tissue on my ear drums.
Still even with all the problems... the tubes and recon surgeries were a far cry from the pain involved in bad ear infections. Once I stopped growing I have only had 1 or 2 infections in the past 18 years... not bad!
I think that for some kids, it is just a neccesary evil in order to maintain hearing function ( I regained full hearing after each set of tubes, and after the recon surgery I have had no hearing loss at all) It did take me a little longer to speak correctly because I pronounced everything the way I heard it... made for some funny stories for my parents...
Good luck with your little one!
I must share my experience with you on this subject....my son is now 5 years old. We went through a very similar experience as you did for years of his life and it all started young very similar to yours. To make a very, very long story short....in the last year, we have discovered he has acid reflux. He is on prevacid twice a day and NO LONGER has any ear infections, constant colds, ear tubes, etc. He never showed ANY of the traditional signs of acid reflux; however, there were a number of tests done that in fact proved that he had this and thus causing years of his ear problems.
I highly recommend that this is ruled out for your daughter....many, many kids under the age of 12 show no reflux signs. This was all diagnosed by our ENT doctor here in Michigan who has years of experience with this issue. I wish someone would have told me years ago this was a possibility.
Just thought I would share this with you...perhaps this does not apply to your situation at all. However, I feel compelled to share this with any parent who is dealing with what you are right now. It is not fun!! Please feel free to pm if you want the long. detailed version of this.
My ENT did remove my 5-year-olds second set of tubes in the office. We had the exact same thing happen the second time. The tubes turned about 1 month after they were put in. The first set of tubes did help tremendously though. I would follow the ENTs recommendations (and your own intuition). My daughter has slight hearing loss in one ear, so I would do whatever possible to prevent your child from going throught that. Hearing loss can cause delays in speech development. My daughter does not have delays but can't hear certain sounds well (like th sounds like f to her). Good luck.
are you smoking in the house? if you are this will cause repeated ear infections with tubes. a friend of mine had this happen to her daughter and she started smoking outside and it quit. are you getting water in her ears? this will cause it too. are you keeping her ears covered when taking her out in the wind? if not this will cause infections to. now that she is older the doc may be able to do bigger tubes. noise is scary to that age but it wont traumatize her she wont remeber it. good luck and I say replace the tubes but I imagine they can do it in the same surgery but not sure on that.
ENT will not remove the tube unless the tubes are out, closer to the end (coming out of ears). for children that young, they usually like to wait a few months before putting in new set of tubes.
every ENT i have been to has said tubes will eventually come out with wax. our daughter's didn't, so when they put in the 2nd set of tubes they took the one tube that was stuck in ear canal.
can you get an earlier appt with ENT? that's a month away from now.
Excessive wax and ear infections may be due to food intolerances. Milk is the number one allergen so consider that. Hopefully your doctor will be able to give you good advice.
Go to the ENT and do not worry about this anymore. I have one child who had 6 sets of tubes between the ages of 18 mo and 5 years, and they just grow out and may need to be replaced, but you do not need to remove them, so unless a great deal has changed. Some times they get clogged, and tubes do not prevent ear wax but unless your ENT did something different, you should not need them removed at all.
Maybe what you need is a different ENT who will explain things to you a little better, so you might seek a second opinion, or one you groove with a little better.
If she had an ear infection, she may have needed a new set. Ear infections do scar ears, but tubes generally are there to keep your child from developing the infections to begin with, your converstation should be with the ENT, after they look in the ear and tell you what is going on, and don't worry about scaring unless they tell you about some unusual situation. If your child is still gettting ear infections and has fluid, you should choose to get tubes, and know that they are not permanent structures.
M.
my daughter is 5 and is on her second set of tubes. The first ones were placed when she was 18mths and they one fell out and the other one was not working properly so we decided to have them replaced and he removed the one and replaced both in one surgery nothing in the office. Be glad she has only had one infection with the tubes becasue my daughter still had at 10 with the first set of tubes they just weren't as severe and didn't last as long. Good luck.
I'm not sure how the doc will remove the tubes, but will probably do it on the spot. If you tell him/her that the vacuum scared her he/she may be able to do it with a tweezers if she holds real still. He may, however, just leave her alone and let them come out on their own. Start your daughter on pre and probiotics now. That should help fend off ear infections.
I agree w/ Susan T. Go to a chiropractor---one that actually practices the whole realm of chiroprachty and not just one who resolves back pain. You may be pleasantly surprised w/ the results!
